Burt Case Defendant Waives Jury Trial
In a move a prosecutor called “tantamount” to pleading guilty, a Vietnamese gang leader accused of killing a highway patrolman asked a judge today to decide his fate based on testimony from an earlier hearing.
Hung Thanh Mai waived his right to a jury trial, and his lawyers submitted transcripts of testimony from his preliminary hearing to Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Weatherspoon. The judge will issue a ruling next Friday.
“There’s a good possibility, based on what attorneys have told me, you’ll be found guilty,” Weatherspoon warned the defendant.
Outside the courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. Chris Evans added that the outcome is all but certain: “It is tantamount to a guilty plea.”
Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Mai, 28, for the July 13, 1996, slaying of rookie California Highway Patrol Officer Don Burt.
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